Poor Substitutes
by Barnabas C
Summary: They'd both rather be with someone else... Warnings for femslash and early-S8 spoilers
1. Poor Substitutes

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was an attempt to tell a semi-coherent story in as few words as possible. ;) But I also wrote a slightly-longer companion piece to it, that tells the other half of the tale. You can find it here as "Chapter 2" ("Poor Substitutes, redux") of this fic.

* * *

**Poor Substitutes**

The girl moved beneath her, squirming, clutching at the sheets and gasping the same unknown phrase over and over in Japanese.

"Open your eyes," Faith ordered, knowing the other slayer's climax was almost upon her.

She obeyed--with difficulty--and as she came, Faith searched those eyes for any trace of the girl's previous lover. Any thought, any emotion, any hint of the connection the two had forged, however brief. Because Faith knew that this was as close as she would ever get to her. As close as she'd ever get to B.

But there was nothing.

* * *

Sunrise in Tokyo was still hours away when Faith awoke, but it was time to go. She very gently tried to remove the hand on her stomach, but its sleeping owner rolled toward her and moved it up to Faith's breast, snuggled up tighter against her, and rested her head on the older slayer's shoulder.

"Love you, Buffy," she murmured, and the smile on her face hinted at a very good dream, still in-progress.

"Then you're just as stupid as I am," Faith whispered. She succeeded in extricating herself on her second attempt.

She dressed, slipped out of the room, and headed out into the night. Behind her, Satsu slept on.

**** Grr! Arrgh! ****


	2. Poor Substitutes, redux

NOTE: This "chapter" is actually an entirely separate fic that can stand totally on its own, but since it's a companion to the other one and tells the other half of the story, might as well post 'em together. (Thanks to Dorian for some important feedback on this one.)

* * *

**Poor Substitutes, redux**

She told her by text-message. That was what really pissed Satsu off.

'Faith in town tomorrow. Needs a room for 1 night. Plz arrange it. Thx - B.'

She could've had Xander, Willow, or Andrew send it, and Satsu wouldn't have minded. After all, Buffy was incredibly busy these days. But she'd sent it herself, and for the time it had taken her to do it she could've easily dialed her phone and _told_ her, as if she were a human being and not a damn robot. Doing it by text, instead… that was all about sending a message, and one that had nothing to do with Faith needing accommodations. The P.S. had been invisible to the eye, but still come through loud and clear: 'I don't want to speak to you.'

* * *

They'd met up, and together slain the big-nasty that Faith had been chasing across two continents… and then ended up back at the slayers' compound, sitting at the kitchen table together with a bottle of saké open between them. Before long, they were comparing histories. By the time a third of the liquor was gone, Satsu had heard most of the best Buffy/Faith Sunnydale stories. By the time two-thirds were gone, Faith had heard the Buffy/Satsu story. By the time the bottle was empty, Satsu had Faith pressed up against a wall, kissing her with a passion that wasn't as drunken as she tried to convince herself of.

* * *

"Open your eyes."

Somehow, Satsu did as ordered and pried them open, and saw the older slayer's chocolate-brown ones staring down into hers with a fierce intensity, as though she were searching them for something. Whether she found it or not, Satsu didn't know, but she discovered something in Faith's. Even as her orgasm ripped through her, she was aware enough to realize that of the two people in the room, she wasn't the only one who's heart Buffy owned. Or the only one who's heart had been taken and tossed indifferently to the bottom of Buffy's closet once it had been given to her.

As the blissful waves subsided, Satsu thought back on everything Faith had told her that night, and combined it with all the bits of gossip she'd picked up around the castle in Scotland. Buffy and Faith. The fights. The betrayals. The partnership and friendship they could've had--_should've_ had--but never did. The partnership and friendship that could've maybe turned into even more, if it hadn't been so thoroughly fucked-up so early-on.

Satsu knew she didn't have the complete picture, but she was just a little too drunk, and a little too pissed off to care. She and Buffy had been doomed right from the start--she'd known that at the time, but gone through with it anyway, hoping against hope that maybe she'd be wrong. But of course, she hadn't been. Buffy had been hurt too much to ever be able to form a lasting relationship with anyone ever again.

And Faith was one of the ones who had hurt her.

In the blink of an eye, Satsu had their positions reversed. She knelt over Faith, glaring down at her.

Then she slapped her. Hard.

The other slayer's eyes went wide with shock… then quickly dilated with renewed lust. She made a low growling noise that didn't sound even remotely human.

Satsu slapped her again.

She was winding up for a third strike when Faith grabbed her by the hair and pulled her down toward her, attacking her mouth and tongue with her own. A hand wound its way into Faith's hair and pulled, and she grunted and nipped at the lips upon hers. Satsu's fingernails raked down Faith's chest, across her breast and stomach, and the hand ended its short journey between the older slayer's legs, fingers sliding easily into the wetness they found there.

They rolled all across the bed, from one corner to another to another, scratching, biting, growling, and snarling the whole way. Faith's orgasm was followed soon after by another from Satsu, and the grunts of pain and pleasure mixed together to where there was eventually no difference between them.

The slayers were bruised, bloody, sweaty, exhausted, and totally sated by the time they finally collapsed upon one another some unknown amount of time later. "Fuck, that was hot," Faith gasped, but if she said anything after that, Satsu didn't hear it--she was already asleep.

* * *

_In her dream, Buffy came to her, and smiled as she caressed her cheek with a gentleness that made the Japanese girl want to just melt into her and stay that way for the rest of her life._

"_I'm so sorry, Satsu," dream-Buffy said, and took her fellow slayer into her arms. "I can't believe I almost let you get away. But never again. We'll be together--always."_

_Tears of relief fell from dream-Satsu's eyes, and she returned the embrace. "I love you, Buffy."_

* * *

The sound of birds woke her just before dawn's first light. She wasn't surprised to find herself alone. Her slayer-inflicted injuries were mostly healed already, but she was relieved to see that none of the few remaining marks would be visible once she'd dressed--she didn't want to answer _those_ questions from any of the younger girls.

With a sigh, Satsu got up and prepared to face another day in the battle against evil.

**** Grr! Arrgh! ****


End file.
